Pressurepro, Thx for the info!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is the CabotÂs solid stain the one I keep reading about on the board that's having all the issues? The new product that was introduced in 2005? Most people reference it as a Deck Stain product. I see there are three different Cabot solid stain choices. OVT (oil & acrylic) and Pro VT. What are the differences? Which one do you recommend? Which has the best history? I pretty sure I'm going solid. The only question left, in addition to the ones above is why not paint the pergola with regular exterior latex like Benjamin Moore. Does Cabot's stain/latex have unique characteristics that make it superior to regular exterior house paint? As you can see I donÂt know squat about paint and stains. When I started this investigation I figured all stains where just that...oil based stains. I had no idea some where latex. I've been advised not to "paint" the pergola because it's a nightmare. Hopefully CabotÂs solid "stain" provides some benefit over regular exterior house paint. Please help convince me. I'm very nervous about the choice. The only thing I'm certain of is she wants a solid white much like you see on the East Coast. Think Cape Cod or Wilmington. We built this beautiful pergola; unfortunately it's out of cedar and not Douglas fir. The good news is it will not be walked on, itÂs vertical. Any on thoughts or suggestions? Thanks for ALL the help and advice!!!!! Big Tex

Tibbrix, I guess you haven't seen these new low voc 'stains'. You are correct that stain doesn't peel, but these new stains are more like a paint, as they're acrylic with very little real oil in the formulation, apparently. Much of the criticism which I have uncovered complains about the peeling of these stains. We had just removed our old cedar decrepit deck - the carpenter bees were having a field day with it. We did some research and found that carpenter bees like PT less than cedar (we hope that's true). So the PT is not a beautiful wood like cedar and we'd like a little deeper color - hence the semi-transparent search. Even the sealer type stuff which is now low VOC is having the same issue with durability. Alas....is there no decent solution to my problem? ;-)

Are stains and water protectors (makes the water bead on top of the wood) different? I stained/water protected our deck 3 years ago with an oil based brand, and it doesn't peel off at all, it just soaks in...but it still disappears (for us anyway). I don't know if the wood is just dry and quickly sucks it up, or if the sun breaks it down or what. But it desperately needs to be done again. So I don't know if I just used crappy stuff or if retreating the wood is just going to be a every-second-year kinda thing. Ugh. If we ever build a deck again, we'll spend money on metal spindles. I HATE doing those stupid spindles!

Thank you! I'm really happy with it now that we're starting to get used to it :)